software

I may be buying a used one (less than a year old) for $225. Gonna throw a '59 bucker in the bridge. Is it true that the Mexican strats have improved a great deal in recent years?

I heard somewhere that they're made of alder now as opposed to poplar.


Originally Posted by Benjy_26I heard somewhere that they're made of alder now as opposed to poplar.

Correct. The key difference between the US and Mexi Fenders are the number of pieces in the body. US bodies are three piece, Mexis are many more.

The overall quality of the MIM Fenders is excellent compared to what they were 10 years ago. Put some Duncans in there and you'll have a great instrument.

I've got a 2002 that just totally rocks. I had an older one that i was never all that wild about.

The need new pickups, pots and switch to sound good...a Callaham Tremolo kit will make them sound even better and will also make the sustain tgo through the roof...there are a few other things you can do but after the Callaham kit and new electronics they kick ass! for cheep guitars

YUP

My '05 is a two piece alder and resonates very well stock. It already has CTS pots and a good 5way switch. Other than the pup upgrade, which is in progress, the Callaham bridge kit is the only other upgrade that I will probably do. For that matter I may just fabricate the bridge block myself to try out first. They are good guitars, more in line price wise with what Leo had in mind to begin with.

My MIM strat gets played more than my Amer Deluxe. The MIM is still the best value you can get in a guitar and a great player too.

Those strats work really well, the tone I get from 59 in my bridge of my mim strat is so awesome. In bridge I would get a 59 trembucker so the pole pieces line up on that guitar.

1 for MIM Fenders. Quality is great for an import and they aren't too far off from being oustanding players. The pickups leave a little to be desired, but are atleast usable.

I agree. New pups and they are awesome axes!

I have a 1999 Mex Standard with a Duncan Custom in the bridge........ i like it! It's much better then my 96 and 94 Mexican strats... I wish to buy one of the newer Alder body Mex Standards oneday...

I have a '96 ...don't know if it's poplar or alder though because I heard they went back and forth alot around that time. After the setup it played great and sounds great too, it definatly beats my Squier Standard.............now I just got to get that Custom in the bridge...

I've always heard good things about em... but last year my friend bought a brand new one and it was a complete POS. The fretboard was terrible, dead spots all over the place. I was in the middle of deciding on getting one, and I turned my head and decided it wasn't worth it at all. But, he also ordered it off Music 123. Go figure.

The Callaham stuff is high quality, no doubt about it. But for $99. you can get a Fender '62 RI Bridge/Vibrato and when I compared one to the three early 60's Fender Vibratos I have, I found that the Fender reissue '62 sounds the same, weighs the same and looks the same as my 40 year old oldies. So if you're paying more than $99 because you think the Callaham is a more authentic vibrato than the Fender '62 Reissue, I'm not sure it actually is. Maybe it's better than the original? If so it's not the same as the original!

Lew

Lew brings up a good point that the Fender reissue trem is good and I won't get into which I think is better or not as good or any of that...the thing you have to remember is that Callaham makes a trem kit that will retrofit onto a MIM plate...the Fender reissue trem won't fit on ANY MIM Strat except the Classic 50's, 60's and 70's and the Jimmy Vaughan...the JV already has the Fender reissue Trem and the 50's, 60's, and 70's Strat trems are full size BUT they are simply not very good blocks and would sound far better with the Fender OR the Callaham trem block at least.

If you going to get a MIM strat try it out first, that's the most important as there are lots of lemons out there. I actually shouldnt have got mine used in the condition it was in when I got it but something told me to get it, although after the setup it was all worth it.

How do thses MIM strats compare to the 1980's Squire Strats from Japan?

from what I've seen MIM strats have dropped dramatically in quality over the past few years. A friend of mine bought one in about 99-2000 which is killer so a few months ago I got one to have as a backup axe. Once I got it home I realized it was the biggest piece of crap. And I went through all the ones at GC and picked out the best one! The pickups sound bad, the electronics are junk, the vintage fretwire sucks. And I think for the new ones they are no longer alder and they switched to poplar.

MIM strats are great. So easy to have a good instrument with them. But I would play it before you buy. Theres always some duds.